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Do not become a nurse! Do not become a nurse unless you're prepared to multitask while balancing an elephant on your right big toe and an ostrich on your left pinky as you answer the phone over and over redirecting the same patient's family member to the doctor with the same question veiled as a new one. Sounds ludicrous? Yes, it does, but it's really not that far fetched. Today's nursing environment requires the intellect of Einstein and the dexterity of an octopus. Managed care brought us the profit margin and downsizing. We now work to do much more with far less while the average patient has become more ill and more complicated to manage. This means we work many more hours such as in mandated overtime (when they tell you that you can't go home)with fewer vacations (we don't have enough nurses....donchknow there's a nursing shortage?). It also means there's not enough ancillary staff (nursing assistants). That means we do their job and ours, if there aren't enough nursing assistants on a given shift. What does that mean? Let me explain:

The nursing assistant's job is, but not limited to,: obtaining vital signs, bathing and cleaning patients (body fluids, feces, etc.), cleaning patient rooms, bringing dietary trays to and from patients, feeding patients as needed, obtaining intake and output measurements, emptying trash and linen and replacing liners, ambulating patients as needed, providing therapy per plans, transporting patients to and from appointments and therapy, and other tasks as assigned.

The registered nurse's job is, but not limited to,: interpreting vital signs, assessing patient status and changes (oxygenation, circulation, cognition, mentation, integument, mobility, etc.), correctly administering medications according to the patient five rights, interpreting intake and output measurement and dietary consumption, assessing patient response to therapy, overseeing staff and ancillary staff (dietary, housekeeping, etc.), working with doctors and interdisciplinary team members, directing patient family members, directing shift schedule, trouble shooting the inevitable plant/office or medical equipment repair, answering the phone, transferring calls, faxing reports, receiving faxes, filing patient data, ordering office and medical supplies, ordering medications, going off unit to retrieve medical and office supplies or medications, reporting to facility supervisor, documenting shift occurrences and patient changes and printing report, delivering report to oncoming shift.

So there we are. That is the glamorous life of a registered nurse in a nutshell. Oh, I almost forgot to add that we can count on not having weekends off or most major holidays. Tends to sweeten the pot, huh? But, in the midst of all the glamor, there are the mushy moments with patients that really do call us back to the answers of why we really got into the profession. That's when I really feel good about myself and why I'm there. However, given a time machine to go back to the day I began making my career choice, I definitely would have chosen hotel event planning.

Learn more about this author, Kate Sorenson.
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